DEEP rejects Candlewood Solar permit in New Milford

Joel Lindsay, center, with Ameresco Candlewood Solar LLC, leads a walking tour for the state Siting Council of the area where there is a proposal to build solar panels on Candlewood Mountain in New Milford, Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2017.

Joel Lindsay, center, with Ameresco Candlewood Solar LLC, leads a walking tour for the state Siting Council of the area where there is a proposal to build solar panels on Candlewood Mountain in New Milford,

Joel Lindsay, center, with Ameresco Candlewood Solar LLC, leads a walking tour for the state Siting Council of the area where there is a proposal to build solar panels on Candlewood Mountain in New Milford, Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2017.

Joel Lindsay, center, with Ameresco Candlewood Solar LLC, leads a walking tour for the state Siting Council of the area where there is a proposal to build solar panels on Candlewood Mountain in New Milford,

NEW MILFORD — The state has rejected a crucial part of a controversial solar project, delaying its construction again.

The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection rejected the stormwater management plan for Candlewood Solar’s project on Candlewood Mountain under the general permit. The department is also now requiring any new plan be submitted under the stricter individual permit, fulfilling the town’s request from earlier this year.

“The DEEP’s decision is an affirmation of the town’s significant and justified concerns about this invasive project,” Mayor Pete Bass said in a statement.

The project calls for Candlewood Solar’s parent company, Ameresco, to install and operate about 60,000 solar panels on Candlewood Mountain to generate 20 megawatts of power.

“While we are disappointed with this unexpected decision, our goal is to keep moving forward on this project that will create more than 100 good-paying jobs for the local economy and produce clean, zero carbon energy, an oft-stated goal of the Lamont administration and the DEEP,” Robert Jackson, Candlewood Solar’s director for solar development, said in a statement.

“While I have doubts, given the three prior attempts under the general permit, that even an individual permit can be issued for the project, I have determined that if a permit is to be issued, an individual permit will better protect the waters of the state from pollution,” Oswald Inglese Jr., DEEP’s director for the Bureau of Materials Management and Compliance Assurance, wrote in the department’s rejection.

He also said the department’s technical judgements have differed from those provided by Candlewood Solar, and the general permit doesn’t have a process well-suited to resolve these issues. The individual permit also allows for a hearing, which Inglese said was justified given the project’s complexity.

Inglese said the project doesn’t meet adequate buffer requirements, lacks sufficient justification for certain parameters, and lacks justification and documentation for the ability to phase construction and add erosion and sediment controls along certain slopes.

The application also doesn’t comply with post-construction stormwater management measures or guidelines for erosion, sediment control and site stabilization. It additionally lacks documentation on the project’s ability to protect outlets and prevent adverse downstream impacts, Inglese wrote.

“We are still in the process of reviewing the DEEP’s decision and assessing our path forward, and we will have more to say in the coming weeks about this important environmental and economic project,” Jackson said.

Town officials are calling DEEP’s decision a victory. Bass said it not only affirms the damaging nature of the project outlined by attorney Dan Casagrande, who is representing the town on the project, but Casagrande’s petition also seems to have been a catalyst for DEEP to find further flaws.

“While we value clean and renewable energy, we don’t support the Candlewood Solar project because it would mean the clear-cutting of mature forestland, threaten or destroy wildlife habitats and cause other environmental harm,” Bass said.